Integrated Soil Water and Nutrient Management and Dry ... - Icrisat

Responses of farmers and extension officers to alternative
extension approaches
Joseph Rusike and Richard Foti, Special Project Scientist and Scientific
Officer, ICRISAT
Introduction
The Department of Agricultural Research and Extension (AREX) of
Zimbabwe and ICRISAT are testing the efficiency and effectiveness of FFS
for presenting to farmers and scaling out knowledge-intensive, intangible, and
complex ISWNM technologies. The study is evaluating the performance of
FFS relative to the traditional MF extension approach and the PAE approach.
During the 2000/01 cropping season, seven FFS were established in Gwanda,
Tsholotsho, and Zvishavane. During 2001/02, the schools were expanded
from 7 to 40 schools with additional support from Plan International and the
FAO-TCP project Integrated Natural Resource Management in the Semi-Arid
Regions of Zimbabwe. The expansion was through establishment of new
schools in the original three pilot districts (Gwanda, Tsholotsho, Zvishavane)
and expansion to two new districts (Chivi and Zimuto). Because of a
combination of political disturbances and drought, only 13 of the 40 schools
organized at the beginning of the season remained functional throughout the
cropping season and produced trial results. Table 7 shows the distribution of
existing and new schools established by target district.
Surveys of participating and non-participating farmers and extension
officers were implemented between August and November 2002 to collect
Table 7. Distribution of existing and new Farmer Field Schools by target district,
southern Zimbabwe, 2001/2002 cropping season.
District Existing FFS New FFS Total FFS Realized FFS
(established (established 2001/2002 2001/2002
2000/2001) 2001/2002)
Gwanda 2 2 4 2
Tsholotsho 3 24 27 8
Zvishavane 2 2 4 0
Chivi 0 3 3 3
Zimuto 0 2 2 0
Total 7 33 40 13
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